1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a program for causing a computer connected with an operation unit and a display unit to function as a character input device for accepting input of a read character string from the operation unit, converting the read character string to a kana/kanji character string, and outputting the converted character string to a higher level application, the character input device, and a character input method.
2. Related Art
In a device of a type in which character input operation is performed using a ten key such as a mobile telephone, a dictionary file is searched by the read character string at a relevant time point every time the read character string is updated by the key operation, a candidate character string is extracted, and the extracted candidate is displayed in a list to cover the poorness in operability. According to such a function (hereinafter referred to as a “prediction conversion function”), a user can select the target character string in the displayed candidates to complete the character conversion process without inputting all read character strings.
In candidate extraction by the prediction conversion function, the selected results of the most recent candidate and the candidate having a high frequency selected in the past are generally displayed at a higher level. However, in such display, the character string intended by the user may not be displayed at the higher level, and thus development of software having a mechanism of changing the display order of each candidate according to the input state is desired.
In regards to such a problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-3331 describes obtaining a score of each field (fitness of each field with respect to document being created) using the usage frequency (registered in advance) for every type of field of various words contained in the document created up to a relevant point when the read character string is input, determining the field of the document being created from the score, and narrowing the candidates. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-296320 describes classifying various words by the timing in which the possibility the word is input is high so that when a plurality of date dictionary tables is created and the read character string is input, the date of a clock in the device is referenced and the table corresponding to the date is searched to thereby display the candidate corresponding to the input timing at a higher level.